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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. degree — an amount
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. hand — in cards
  6. ground — the earth
  7. file — a tool
  8. race — humankind
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. ground — a position
  11. file — a line of people
  12. ground — crushed
  13. race — a contest
  14. degree — from a university
  15. hand — help
  16. degree — temperature
  17. mark — a grade
  18. bear — the animal
  19. pit — in a race
  20. mark — a trace
  21. bear — the animal
  22. file — a document
  23. pit — a hole
  24. bear — to put up with

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com